A file image from Pahalgam. (Photo:'X')
That China has backed Pakistan in the wake of the horrific April 22 terrorist attack at Pahalgam in Kashmir, in which 26 innocent lives were lost, hardly evokes much surprise, given the amoral, self-serving nature of Chinese foreign policy. Reportedly, in a telephonic call to Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, even while expressing support for Pakistan somewhat hypocritically, urged that nation to exercise restraint and strive for peace, clubbing India in his appeal.
No matter that the responsibility for the brutal assault on civilian tourists had been claimed by the terrorist group called The Resistance Front, which has always admitted to being a proxy in the Indian segment of Kashmir for the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, China has sought to bury its head in the sand like an ostrich, and rather than chastise Pakistan for harbouring terror groups, reiterated its longstanding position of support for that nation, particularly in safeguarding its sovereignty and security interests.
It may be noted that Pakistan has denied any responsibility for the Pahalgam assault, asserting that it was not linked either to the Lashkar-e-Taiba or The Resistance Front, and has called for an impartial probe by an international body comprising Western, Chinese and Russian investigators. China has supported such a demand, which indirectly indicates that it believes Pakistan's insistence on its innocence and would be willing to put its seal on that claim.
Yet, given the current geopolitical realities, China would serve the global cause better by putting pressure on Pakistan to admit its grievous mistake in providing a safe harbour for terrorist groups and refrain from cross-border terrorism against India.
One may recall that after the flaring up of tension between the two nuclear-empowered neighbours in 2019 following the Pulwama terror attack, in which 40 Indian army men were killed, the US had played a seminal role in pressurising Pakistan to refrain from stoking it further, thereby helping to prevent an all-out conflict.
However, the new Trump administration is not paying much attention to this region – it has not yet appointed ambassadors to India or Pakistan – and, unlike in 2019, it has no US forces in nearby Afghanistan to worry about, so whether it is willing to play an active role in containing escalation is doubtful, considering it has its hands full dealing with the mayhem caused by Trump's tariff policy. Similarly, Russia at the moment is deeply preoccupied with the war in Ukraine and is not in a position to play the role of a peacemaker.
Such a situation provides China with an opportunity to step in and assist by putting pressure on Pakistan not only to desist from abetting cross-border terrorism but also to take the first steps at de-escalation of a potentially explosive situation on the India-Pakistan border and prevent it from worsening further.